At the very beginning of this year I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. I considered this to be the path to a successful way of getting into the field of national politics. Being the presumed left-brainer I thought I was when I began to read A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, I was horrified at the idea of right-brainers ruling the world. I could not get past the idea of logic and sequential events no longer being the axis of a successful carrier. Throughout this novel I felt Pink's hatred for lawyers. When he first stated that law was a left-brain field of work, I couldn't help but be anxious of the idea that my perfect job was on the brink of being taken over by the Conceptual Age. After that terrible idea got into my head, I found reading the rest of the book to be like pulling teeth. No matter how often Pink stated that the left brain would always be necessary I could not get past the idea of a bunch of "touchy feely" artists and potters ruling my adult life. At one point in the book, Pink even writes mockingly about lawyers, also called "knowledge workers," "Our left brains have made us rich. Powered by armies of Drucker's knowledge workers, the information economy has produced a standard of living in much of the developed world..." The statement about "armies of knowledge workers" almost sounds to me a little "tongue and cheek" if you will. It seems like lawyers, doctors, and engineers are a drone-like, necessary evil. My left brain can't help but disagree about the way he talks about these "knowledge workers." I fail to see how a computer or an Asian in a far off country will be capable of standing in an American court room and finding the flaws in a defendant's story. To me, this aspect of law is quite if not completely right brained. Courtroom law involves looking at the situation holistically which is one of Pink's more referred-to right brain attributes. If one is a defense lawyer, they must be empathetic with their defendants. Yet another right brained characteristic. Another right brained trait a successful lawyer must master is the art of the spoken word. While stringing words together is in itself a left brained task, lawyers must inject a powerful dose of emotion and charisma into their speeches. How else could a lawyer sway the jury? By being right brained of course. In short, Daniel Pink's idea of left brainers falling into the abyss in the years to come is a false ideal. The emotions that burned inside of me during my reading of the first chapter led me to believe that perhaps the author has some kind of prejudice against those in the legal field of work. But I digress. Onto the second chapter of A Whole New Mind. The focus of this chapter is the gradual transition from the Information Age to the "Conceptual" Age. If you ask me, Daniel Pink's supposedly "unique" and "revolutionary" ideas about Asia, Automation, and Abundance are about 30 years overdue. Also, many of his ideas are complete falsehoods. The idea of outsourcing all engineers with "routine jobs?" Preposterous!! What sane American that you know would even think about outsourcing something like a defense or space aeronautics engineer?! Um, none! However, I do not want to put off the wrong image about my feelings about this chapter. I think Pink overall is correct in saying that logic and reason are not enough to be successful in this country of luxury. I think he is right in telling his audience about the changing ways of job opportunities. I, however, being a 15 year old freshman in high school, have known nothing but Automation, Asia, and Abundance. I see Pink's "future" as being the only present I have ever known. For that reason I respect that I might not ever be able to fully understand Pink's "groundbreaking" revolution, if it is indeed that.
At the very beginning of this year I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. I considered this to be the path to a successful way of getting into the field of national politics. Being the presumed left-brainer I thought I was when I began to read A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, I was horrified at the idea of right-brainers ruling the world. I could not get past the idea of logic and sequential events no longer being the axis of a successful carrier. Throughout this novel I felt Pink's hatred for lawyers. When he first stated that law was a left-brain field of work, I couldn't help but be anxious of the idea that my perfect job was on the brink of being taken over by the Conceptual Age. After that terrible idea got into my head, I found reading the rest of the book to be like pulling teeth. No matter how often Pink stated that the left brain would always be necessary I could not get past the idea of a bunch of "touchy feely" artists and potters ruling my adult life. At one point in the book, Pink even writes mockingly about lawyers, also called "knowledge workers," "Our left brains have made us rich. Powered by armies of Drucker's knowledge workers, the information economy has produced a standard of living in much of the developed world..." The statement about "armies of knowledge workers" almost sounds to me a little "tongue and cheek" if you will. It seems like lawyers, doctors, and engineers are a drone-like, necessary evil. My left brain can't help but disagree about the way he talks about these "knowledge workers." I fail to see how a computer or an Asian in a far off country will be capable of standing in an American court room and finding the flaws in a defendant's story. To me, this aspect of law is quite if not completely right brained. Courtroom law involves looking at the situation holistically which is one of Pink's more referred-to right brain attributes. If one is a defense lawyer, they must be empathetic with their defendants. Yet another right brained characteristic. Another right brained trait a successful lawyer must master is the art of the spoken word. While stringing words together is in itself a left brained task, lawyers must inject a powerful dose of emotion and charisma into their speeches. How else could a lawyer sway the jury? By being right brained of course. In short, Daniel Pink's idea of left brainers falling into the abyss in the years to come is a false ideal. The emotions that burned inside of me during my reading of the first chapter led me to believe that perhaps the author has some kind of prejudice against those in the legal field of work. But I digress. Onto the second chapter of A Whole New Mind. The focus of this chapter is the gradual transition from the Information Age to the "Conceptual" Age. If you ask me, Daniel Pink's supposedly "unique" and "revolutionary" ideas about Asia, Automation, and Abundance are about 30 years overdue. Also, many of his ideas are complete falsehoods. The idea of outsourcing all engineers with "routine jobs?" Preposterous!! What sane American that you know would even think about outsourcing something like a defense or space aeronautics engineer?! Um, none! However, I do not want to put off the wrong image about my feelings about this chapter. I think Pink overall is correct in saying that logic and reason are not enough to be successful in this country of luxury. I think he is right in telling his audience about the changing ways of job opportunities. I, however, being a 15 year old freshman in high school, have known nothing but Automation, Asia, and Abundance. I see Pink's "future" as being the only present I have ever known. For that reason I respect that I might not ever be able to fully understand Pink's "groundbreaking" revolution, if it is indeed that.